WNYC Invites Musicians to ‘Reimagine the Public Domain’

Photo Credit: Public Song Project / WNYC

WNYC’s Public Song Project teams up with the Internet Archive to invite musicians to adapt, remix, or reimagine works in the public domain.

WNYC has teamed up with the Internet Archive for this year’s Public Song Project, inviting musicians to “reinterpret the public domain.” Artists of any level are encouraged to “adapt, remix, or reimagine works published in 1930 or earlier.” Selected submissions will featured by WNYC and preserved in the Internet Archive’s digital library, where they’ll become part of a permanent, publicly accessible collection.

Besides its legal concept, the public domain is a resource ripe for creative inspiration. Under U.S. copyright law, you can adapt, cover, remix, or otherwise iterate on any of the art and ideas it contains—including creative works from the beginning of history up to and including the year 1930, and sound recordings from 1925 or earlier. According to the Supreme Court, that also includes AI-generated works.

“Together, WNYC and the Internet Archive are highlighting the public domain as a living source of creative inspiration—a vast archive of songs, texts, and recordings that anyone can transform into something new,” reads a statement from the WNYC and Internet Archive.

Submissions can include:

• A straightforward cover of a public domain song
• A public domain composition with new music or lyrics
• A remix sampling films or sound recordings (from 1925 or earlier)
• Public domain poetry set to original or public domain music
• An adaptation of quotes, passages, plotlines, or characters from a public domain book/play

The 2026 edition of the Public Song Project arrives during a landmark year for the Internet Archive, which celebrates its 30th anniversary on May 10. This is also the same day that submissions close. The project also lands amid broader cultural anniversaries in U.S. history and copyright law.

Since launching in 2023, the Public Song Project has featured contributions from first-time songwriters alongside Grammy winners and Pulitzer Prize recipients. It has brought artists to stages at Lincoln Center, Joe’s Pub, and the Brooklyn Public Library.